Dumping truck lift



3 Sheets-Sheet l W. A. KOSTICK DUMPING TRUCK LIFT Filed April 26, 1940 May 19, 1942.

if w muw May 19, 1942. w. A. KOSTIC K DUMPING TRUCK LIFT Filed April 26, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jnven for Wizlier A.Kos2icis B his Aii'or-ne s flwuxm Patented May 19, 1942 DUMPING TRUCK LIFT Walter A. Kostick, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application April 26, 1940, Serial No. 331,794

8 Claims.

My present invention has for its object to provide and does provide an improved and highlyeiflcient so-called dumping truck lift and, generally stated, consists of the novel devices, combinations of devices, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

Particularly this invention relates to scale platforms that have supplemental sections or lifting platforms combined with cylinder-and-piston motors for lifting the latter.

Still more specifically stated, the invention relates especially to scale platforms of the type just above outlined and wherein the cylinder and co-operatlng parts are located below and hung from the scale platform, so that all of such parts are carried as a part of the normal weight on the scale mechanism.

Hitherto dumping platform mechanism and actuating motor, arranged as above indicated, have been manufactured and extensively used, in an arrangement wherein the cylinder of the lifting motor was rigidly secured to and not capable of oscillatory movements in respect to the scale platform; but that arrangement has not been found completely satisfactory because certain actions take place in actual usage and which may be briefly stated as follows: When a dumping truck is driven onto the scale platform, with its front wheels on the lifting platform, and the latter is then elevated, the weight on the rear wheels of the truck will tend to hold the rear truck wheels against forward travel. Under the lifting action the front wheels will be moved on the arc of a circle struck from the axis of the rear wheels, and this produces a backward pull on the lifting platform which is transmitted to the piston and produces an intense strain between the cylinder and the piston.

If the truck is one that has brakes and these brakes be set (and the brakesshould be set), then the rearward pull on the lifting platform will be further increased. In either event, as the lifting platform is elevated and a lesser portion of the piston is within the cylinder, then this cramping action between the cylinder and piston will progressively increase with the result that terrific wear and sometimes breakage of the parts has been produced.

In accordance with my invention, I overcome the above noted objectionable actions by pivotally hanging the cylinder of the lifting motor on the scale platform structure, directly or indirectly, so that in the lifting action under rearward pull on the lifting platform, the entire cylinder and piston motor and the lifting platform will rock on the pivoted cylinder support. This feature, broadly stated, is, in practice, carried out in a novel way and involves various additional novel features, all of which will appear in the detailed description of the drawings.

In practice I have found that to avoid the necessity of a very deep pit below the scale platform and the scale mechanism, I can use a relatively short cylinder and a multi section piston. A vertically movable horse guard is desirable in a mechanism of this kind and I have been able to use a horse guard of the desired vertical length without making the pit deeper than required for the cylinder of the motor, and to do this, I have devised a novel means for operating the same, in

which the horse guard is not picked up and carried with the lifting platform and piston until the piston has been given a considerable initial upward movement.

The invention embodying the novel features above briefly outlined and various other highly important novel features are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a view chiefly in side elevation, with some parts sectioned, illustrating the improved dump and showing a dumping truck thereon;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken' approximately on the line 33 of Fig. 2, some parts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view in perspective showing a portion of the horse guard and guide therefore.

In the drawings I have conventionally shown a fixed driving platform i0 having the customary opening for the scale mechanism and below the same a pit II. The scale platform I2 is directly supported on metallic main beams l3 which, through scale levers M or the like, are carried by scale mechanism of well-known or any suitable type. Near its front end the scale platform I! has an opening in which is located a lifting platform l5 which constitutes a supplemental part of the complete scale platform.

The cylinder and piston motor, which I have illustrated and which is very advantageously REISSUED JUN 29 94a used, is made up of a cylinder 16 and a multirection tubular piston I'I-l8. Piston section I! works directly in the cylinder l6 and the piston section 18 works directly in the section II. Cylinder l6 has a reinforced upper end portion l9 flanged at its upper end and bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to transverse metallic channel beams 20 which, at their ends, are bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to spacing blocks 2|, see particularly Fig. 3. The extended ends of the cross 10 beams are further connected by tie-bars or beams 22, see Figs. 3 and 7, which, as shown, are channel-shaped in cross section. Rigidly secured to the blocks 2|, to the tie-beams 22, and to one of the cross beams 28, are heavy cylinder supporting trunnions 23, the ends of which, as best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, are ioumaled in bearing hubs 24 that are a part of or, at any rate, rigidly secured to the lower ends of hanger brackets which, as shown, are heavy channel 20 beams. These hanger brackets 25 are rigidly secured to the main scale platform beams I3 by suitable means, preferably by nut-equipped hook bolts 26, passed through bolt holes 21, and said brackets 25 with the hooked ends of the bolts clinched over the flanges of the respective beams 13. The plurality of vertically spaced bolt holes 21 afford means'for vertically adjusting the trunnions 23, and hence, the entire lifting motor.

The cylinder I6, by the means just described, is mounted for oscillatory movements in the vertical medial longitudinal plane of the scale platform l2. To limit the oscillatory movement of the cylinder, and hence of the entire cylinder and piston motor, the cylinder is shown as provided with a long rearwardly projecting arm 28 that projects rearward from the upper portion of thecylinder and is further connected to the lower portion of the cylinder by an oblique truss-bar 28. Here it should be noted that the axis of the 10 pivot afforded by the trunnions 23 and hubs 24 is somewhat forward of the axis of the cylinder so that there will be a somewhat preponderance of weight on the front side of the trunnions which will tend to throw the arm 28 upward. To limit the upward movement of the arm 28 to a position in which the cylinder l6 will be in a vertical position, a transverse stop bar 30 is secured to and extended between the main scale beams 13, see particularly Fig. 1. 50

Preferably the beam 30 is provided with a cushion block 3| of wood or other suitable material with which the arm 28 is normally engaged.

To limit the downward movement of the arm 28, and hence the rocking movement of the cylinder and piston from full line positions in Fig. 1,

into oblique positions indicated by dotted lines in said view, various kinds of stop devices may be employed, but for this purpose I have shown a 00 stop rod 32 pivotally anchored to the scale platform l2 by an eye-bolt 33 and at its lower end working freely through a sleeve-like head 34 at the free end of said arm 28. At its extreme lower end the rod 32 is shown as provided with a nut 35 or the like between which and the free end of the arm 28 is a coiled spring 36.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the cylinder H5, at its lower end, is provided with a head l6 and the cylinder is braced against lateral swinging move- 70 ments by guy-rods 31, the lower endsof which are attached to projections of said head 16', and the upper ends of which are anchored to the cross beams 20.

Normally, or when the piston of the lifting 75 motor is contacted or lowered to its extreme position, the lifting platform or supplemental platform section l5 will rest upon extensions 38 of the blocks 2| and will be solely supported thereby.

The piston member [8, at its upper end, carries an expanded frame or piston head-forming portion which, as shown, includes transversely crossed eye-beams 39 which, in turn, are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to a pair of parallel wheel-stop flanges 40, shown as in the form of angle bars. The eye-beams 39, in this preferred structure, are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to a metal plate 33a that has a rigidly attached heavy trunnion l8 that is telescoped into the upper end of the piston member 18. By this arrangement the inner piston member I8 is provided with a detachable head or cage-like lifting structure.

The beams 38 are normally considerably below and out of contact with the lifting platform II, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, and the stop flanges 40 will be below the level of the platform structure. To limit the extreme downward movement of this cage-like head, and hence, of the piston section l8, the flanges 40, at theirends, have projections 40' that normally rest upon the upper flanges of the main scale beams I3 and limit the downward movement-of said head to the normal position best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. In said normal position the'head is below and entirely'out' of engagement with the lifting platforml5.

In this invention the use of a multi-section piston is important for'reasons alread indicated, but it will be understood that the details of construction of such multi-section piston motor may be varied in many ways.

The horse guard is preferably a sheet metal plate 42 reinforced at its edges-by light angle bars 42. To the upper end portions of the angle bars 42' are welded or otherwise rigidly secured cylinder-like sleeves 43 in which work telescopically lifting rods or plungers 44, the upper ends of which are rigidly secured to the lower angles of the stop flanges 40, see particularly Figs. 1 and 5. At their lower ends the lifting rods 44 have heads 45 which, when raised, engage caps 46 applied to the upper ends of the sleeve 43 and through which the rods 44 work telescopically. The flanges of the angle bars 42', at the edges of the horse guard 42, slide freely between laterally spaced guide pins 41 welded or otherwise secured to the forwardly projecting ends of the tie-beams 22, see particularly Figs. 3 and 7.

In Fig. 1, wherein the dumping truck is shown, the character 0 indicates the body, the character b the rear wheels, and the character 0 the front wheels thereof.

By reference particularly to Figs. 4 and 7, it will be noted that the angle bars 42' of the horse guard 42 are provided with projecting stop lugs or lips 42a that normally rest on the stop flange of the beam 22 and limit the downward movement of said horse guard.

Also, it will be noted that the inner cylindrical piston l8 has an annular external shoulder I 8a that is engageable with an annular internal shoulder Ila on the cylindrical piston section II,

and that said piston section II has an external annular shoulder I'Ib that is engageable with an internal annular shoulder I 6a on the cylinder 18. These shoulders cause the inner cylindrical piston i8 to pick up the cylindrical piston 11 so that the said piston sections will be extended in the order named. Also, the shoulder l'lb, when engaged with the shoulder lGa, will limit the extreme expansion or upward movement of the piston.

Operation Assuming that the dumping truck or vehicle is driven on the scale platform l2 with its front wheels on the lifting platform l5 and that air or other motive fluid is introduced into the cylinder, the dump-producing operation will be as follows:

The initial upward movement of the piston will first cause the stop flanges 40 to' project above the lifting platform l5 to prevent the wheels from running off the said platform and a little more upward movement of the piston will cause the cage-like head to pick up and raise the lifting platform l5. After the cage-like head has been moved above the scale platform l2, the rearward pull on the platform l5 and the piston head will cause the cylinder 16 and the parts carried by the lifting platform to rock on the pivot 23, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. This rocking action entirely relieves all lateral strain between the cylinder and piston structure and prevents the truck from being drawn forward on its rear wheels. Under the above rocking movement of the cylinder and piston structure, arm 28 will be moved downward, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, against the tension of spring 36. In fact, the tension of the spring 36 is not such as to exert any considerable force tending to prevent rocking movement of the cylinder. The spring 36 might, in fact, be eliminated or made very short so as to simply act as a cushion at the limit of the downward movement of the arm 28 against the stop nut 35 or equivalent stop device. In fact, in some cases the stop mechanism for limiting the downward movement of the arm 28 might be omitted.

By reference particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the pivot 23, that supports the cylinder I6, is far below the scale platform It and that the said cylinder can not oscillate until the piston has been raised far enough to pick up the lifting platform l5 and carry the same and the flanges 40 well above the scale platform. This is important because the weight of arm 28 tends to produce the oscillation of the cylinder and furthermore in the lifting of the front end of the truck, and especially if the rear wheels be set, there is a further tendency to pull the lifting platform and piston backward. This rearward tilting movement of the piston and head and the oscillation of the cylinder will, of course, take place as soon as the lifting platform and the head of the piston are raised above the scale platform.

For a considerable part of the upward movement of the piston, cage-like head and lifting platform IS, the horse guard will not be raised, but when the heads 45 of plungers 44 engage the caps 48 of the sleeves 43, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, then and thereafter under upward movement of the piston, cage-like head and lifting platform [5, the horse guard will be raised.

Obviously, when air is let out of the cylinder under proper control, the piston, lifting platform, and horse guard will, under an action reversed from that above described, be lowered and restored to normal positions. As already indicated, the horse guar'd will be limited in its downward movement to a position in which the lugs 42a. engage the upper flanges of the beams 22. The

above manner of lifting the horse guard and re- 75 jecting arm, a stop on said platform structure storing it to normal position makes possible the use of a horse guard of the proper vertical length without bringing .the horse-guard into contact with the bottom of the pit or requiring a deeper pit therefor.

The manner in which a load will be dumped from the truck is too well understood to require further comments. Usually there will be a pit adjacent to or sometimes partly under the scale platform, but that is a structure hitherto employed and not necessary for the purpose of this case to consider.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described what is at present believed to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, but it will be understood that the structure illustrated in the drawings and specifically described is capable of a large range of modification all within the scope of the invention herein disclosed and desired to be broadly claimed.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a platform structure having a hfter passage therein, and a lifting platform located in said passage and normally seated on said platform structure, of a lifting motor involving a cylinder and piston located immediately below said lifting platform, the cylinder thereof being pivotally supported from said platform structure, a cage-like head applied to the upper end of the piston of said motor, normally below and out of supporting contact with said lifting platform, said lifting head having flanges that embrace said lifting platform and work through said lifter passage and prevent oscillation of said cylinder and piston until said head has engaged said lifting platform and moved to a point above said platform, thereafter permitting oscillation of said motor.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in further combination with a stop device limiting the oscillatory movement of the cylinder and piston against movement in one direction from-vertical position but permitting oscillation thereof when said lifting head is raised as stated.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said cylinder is provided with a rigidly secured arm projecting laterally therefrom, and a stop device on the platform structure limiting the upward movement of said arm but permitting the said arm to lower to produce oscillation of said cylinder and piston.

4. The combination with a platform having a supplemental section forming a lifting platform normally seated therein but capable of being bodilyraised away from and above the same, of a cylinder and piston lifting motor, said cylinder being pivotally hung from said platform structure, the piston of said motor having a head operative to lift said supplemental section and permit the same and said motor to oscillate, said cylinder having a rigidly secured laterally projecting arm, a stop on said platform structure limiting the upward movement of said armbut permitting downward movement thereof.

5. The combination with a platform having a supplemental section forming a lifting platform normally seated therein but capable of being bodily raised away from and above the same, of a cylinder and piston lifting motor, said cylinder being pivotally hung from said platform structure, the piston of said motor having a head operative to lift said supplemental section and permit the same and said motor to oscillate, said cylinder having a rigidly secured laterally prolimiting the upward movement of said arm but permitting downward movement thereof, and yileding means tending to hold said arm engaged with said stop.

limiting the upward movement of said arm but permitting downward movement thereof, and yielding means tending to hold said arm engaged with said stop, and a stop rod hung from said platform structure and having a stop thereon limiting the downward movement of said arm.

7. The structure defined in claim 6 in which a coiled spring is interposed on said rod between said arm andthe stop on said depending rod.

8. The structure defined in claim 4 in which the pivotal connection between said cylinder and platform structure is oflset from the axis of said cylinder in a direction toward which said arm projects from the cylinder.

WALTER A. KOS'I'ICK. 

